As Regulators and Banks Review Foreclosures, We’ll Be Watching

by Paul Kiel ProPublica, April 21, 2011, 10:19 a.m.

The country’s bank regulators are launching an unprecedented plan to undo some of the damage done by mortgage servicers, compensating victims of shoddy or illegal foreclosure practices. Part of the plan involves a massive outreach effort to contact the potentially millions of borrowers affected. Read more…

Government Vows to Curb Banks’ Foreclosure Practices, But Enforcement Still a Question Mark

by Paul Kiel ProPublica, March 11, 2011, 11:41 a.m.

Hosts of federal agencies and regulators, along with the 50 state attorneys general, are hard at work on laying out new rules for banks and mortgage servicers. Those rules will likely require servicers to transform their approach to handling homeowners facing foreclosure.

But this wouldn’t be the first time the government tried to lay down the law. The administration’s mortgage modification program has a 170-page handbook [1] of servicer guidelines. What’s been missing is enforcement. [2] Servicers have broken the rules without fear of any penalties. Read more…

Money Stories And The Power of Myth As The Rich Get Richer

Myths are a particularly powerful type of story. Although myth definition in common speech tends to treat the word “myth” as a synonym for an untrue story, the real meaning of myth is much deeper. Myths are the real stories we live by.

In his article, “Myth, Politics and the Erosion of The American Dream,” Paul Stoller gives this myth definition. Read more…

Treasury Done ‘Very Little’ to Fix Gov’t Foreclosure Prevention Program, Says Watchdog

by Marian Wang ProPublica, March 3, 2011, 12:13 p.m.

Making the argument that the Treasury Department has done “very little” to improve a foreclosure prevention program that has failed to meet its goals, the government’s TARP watchdog testified at a hearing on Wednesday that the case for keeping the program alive has worn thin and is “all but exhausted [1]” [PDF]. Read more…

The Fundamental Flaw In the Hamp Mortgage Loan Modification Program

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

The Obama Administration Hamp program was originally advertised as a program that would help 3 to 4 million homeowners modify their bank mortgage loans.  

Has Mortgage Loan Modification Worked?

To say that it hasn’t worked out that way is to dramatically understate the problem.  Read more…

What the Federal Reserve Does

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

What the Federal Reserve does is to control the flow of money in the economic system. This means that the Federal Reserve plays an important role in one of the fundamental functions of government, which is to control the amount of money in the system.

Changing Federal Reserve Interest Rates

The most widely publicized way the Federal Reserve controls the money supply is by changing its interest rates. Read more…

Punishment Expected For Wrongful Foreclosure On Bank Mortgage Loans

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

HSBC North America Holdings is another bank that expects to be punished for wrongful foreclosure on bank mortgage loans.

In his article, One Of World’s Largest Banks Warns Of Punishment For Improper Foreclosure Practices In U.S., Shahien Nasiripour explains why “HSBC expects to be subject to a regulatory order banning certain mortgage and foreclosure practices.”

The hard truth is that many people have lost their homes in wrongful foreclosure by banks that have violated mortgage loan process rules.

You can read the whole article here.

And if you are underwater in your mortgage and want to find out if your bank violated loan process rules, see Mortgage Debt Reset.

For Your Financial Success

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

The Story Transformer 

Creator of “The Story Transformation Process”

The Money Rules Of Three Ways Of Making Money

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.

There are fundamentally three different ways to create money in the United States economic system.

How To Make More Money

The first way to create more money is by fiat, which means “by decree.” Fiat means “let it be done.” Only the federal government can create money by decree. Read more…

Are You Making More Money Or Losing Money When You Save It In A Bank?

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD 

Making More Money Secret

The secret of making more money is contained in the word “currency.” Water flows in river currents. Money also needs to flow and circulate. Imagine you deposit $1000 in cash into the bank. Contrary to the images I had as a child, the bank does not take the cash and stash it into a vault somewhere. Instead, it keeps your deposited funds moving by loaning the money again and again. It creates profit from your funds while you earn interest. Read more…

How Do You Have To Change Your Life To Be Your Authentic Self?

The hero journey is not really about how you have to change your life so that you become something you never were before. It is about becoming who you truly are.

In Joe Versus The Volcano, the hero in Joe—Joe’s authentic self—had gone into hiding because Joe was afraid.

How Joe Became Afraid

We find out in the session with Dr. Ellison that Joe had worked in the fire department. He left the fire department because he didn’t feel good. Dr. Ellison diagnoses Joe’s problem this way. Read more…